10 Free Or Low Cost Online Education Websites

If you’re travelling long term with kids, education will no doubt be on your mind.

Thankfully, there are a heap of online education options you can choose from to help keep your children learning — and even you too! Online education websites provide preschool education right through to university level.

The best bit? Many of them are free or cost next to nix.

Yes, you heard right! Some online education websites have been offered to help make education more accessible. So no matter what you want to learn, and no matter how old you are, you can learn while you travel — without worrying about falling behind.

Free or Low Cost Online Education Websites

Website #1: University of the People

University of the People (UoPeople) is the world’s first non-profit, fee-free, accredited online university.

UoPeople embraces the worldwide presence of the Internet and dropping technology costs to bring tuition-free undergraduate degree programs to qualified high school graduates around the world. They offers Associates and Bachelors degree programs in Business Administration and Computer Science.

With the support from top universities, UoPeople has taught more than 2,000 students from over 150 countries.

Cost: Free

Visit: http://uopeople.edu/

Website #2: Universal Class

Universal Class provides online continuing education courses to schools, libraries, companies, educators, and individuals throughout the world. It aims to advance intellectual exchange in teaching, research, and service with its technology and belief that lifelong learning should be affordable to all people of all cultures.

Universal Class have taught over 600,000 students and offer more than 500 courses, which are delivered with streaming video, website avatars, insightful instructional content, helpful tutors, and a social networking experience.

Cost: Prices start at $69 for your first month, then $29.00 for every month thereafter. Or you could get their top plan which is $399 for 3 years.

Visit: https://www.universalclass.com/

Website #3: Coursera

Coursera is an education platform that partners with top universities and organisations worldwide, to offer courses online for anyone to take, for free. They have designed their platform based on proven teaching methods, verified by top researchers.

Coursera have taught over 13 million students with over 1,000 courses.

Cost: Free

Visit: https://www.coursera.org/

Website #4: Studyladder

From preschool through to year 7, Studyladder has had primary school students covered since 2001.

Studyladder was developed by school teachers to provide all children with access to a quality education. They have adapted and aligned their material to meet curriculum requirements in different national and regional jurisdictions of Australia. However, the lessons have now been expanded and adapted for use in over 20 countries across the world.

The Studyladder program has thousands of video lessons, interactive games, worksheets and assessments covering all the fundamentals a student needs to acquire fundamental learning skills and to feel confident to want to learn more. Best of all, kids love using it!

Cost: $88 for one student for 12 months, or $176 for multiple students for 12 months.

Visit: http://www.studyladder.com.au

Website #5: Treehouse

Let’s get technical, technical….

If you want to do an online course in coding, developing or programming, Treehouse is a user friendly, quality online education provider. With clear, instructional videos, challenges and helpful forum for support, anyone can do it! Even my 13 year old daughter has started her first course in html programming, and has earmarked the CSS and WordPress development courses for her next challenge! It’s easy, she says…

Cost: Free trial for seven days, then a basic plan costs $25 USD per month, or you can go Pro for $49 USD.

Visit: http://www.treehouse.com

Website #6: Udemy

With Udemy, you can learn at your own pace, from your own device!

Udemy claim to be the world’s online learning marketplace, with over 6 million students taking courses in everything from programming to yoga to photography– and much more. They have more than 25,000 courses taught by an expert instructor, and every course is available on demand.

Cost: Courses range from no cost up to hundreds of dollars.

Visit: https://www.udemy.com/

Website #7: Khan Academy

From kindergarten to calculus, Khan Academy is there to help!

Khan Academy offers practice exercises, instructional videos, and a personalised learning dashboard that empowers learners to study at their own pace — in and outside of the classroom. Includes maths, science, computer programming, history, art history, economics, and more.

Khan Academy uses state-of-the-art, adaptive technology that identifies strengths and learning gaps.

Cost: Free

Visit: https://www.khanacademy.org/

Website #8: EDX

EdX is a non-profit, online initiative created by founding partners Harvard and MIT. They offer interactive, online classes from the world’s best universities, colleges and organisations.

Topics offered include biology, business, chemistry, computer science, economics, finance, electronics, engineering, food and nutrition, history, humanities, law, literature, math, medicine, music, philosophy, physics, science, statistics and more.

Cost: Free

Visit: http://edx.org/

Website #9: CreativeLive

Big of a creative nut like me? CreativeLive might be for you.

Featuring workshops in photography, video, design, business, audio, music, and software training, CreativeLive unlocks previously closed doors by making dynamic education accessible to everyone.

Anyone can watch CreativeLive’s online workshops — for free — and interact with instructors in real time.

Cost: Courses range from free to low cost — many below $100.

Visit: https://www.creativelive.com/

Website #10: Lynda.com

Founded in 1995, Lynda.com has been around forever in the online education game.

As a member of Lynda.com, you are entitled to unlimited access to their 3,518 video courses. Anyone can learn about business, software, technology or creative skills. New courses are added weekly, and you can learn on any device, on the go.

Cost: Prices start at $24.99 per month for basic membership or $34.99 for premium. It works out cheaper to subscribe annually.

Visit: http://www.lynda.com/

So, what are you waiting for? The world is your — and your kids — oyster!